5 AM
by mAu0103
Summary: One Shot. It's 5 in the morning. Nathan and Haley are pulled out of their precious sleep as Lydia once again calls for their attention.


Disclaimer; I do not own anything

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**5 AM**

Haley's eyes reluctantly fluttered open as the familiar, muffled cries from her daughter once again filled their room through the baby monitor. She rolled onto her back and let out a sigh of exhaustion. She was positive that it hadn't been that long since she'd fallen back asleep after the previous round of feeding and changing. Was she really hungry again already?

She turned her head to the side as she heard Nathan grunt next to her. He was flat on his stomach with his hand tucked under his pillow. "Just wait it out, maybe she'll fall back asleep." He mumbled tiredly, his eyes still closed.

Haley lifted her head off of the pillow to check the clock on Nathan's nightstand. She groaned out loud as the red neon light was mocking her once again and fell right back into the mattress.

It was right on schedule.

5 am.

Lydia was barley six months old, and she'd already learned her schedule by heart. A pretty tight schedule at that, in which she obviously didn't see fit to miss a single one of her sessions. There really was no question about the fact that she was her own daughter, as the committed, responsible tutor girl she was, that never missed out on any of her classes and other duties - or at least she used to be.

Haley smiled tiredly to herself and rolled over on her side, so she was facing Nathan.

"Nathan…" She put her hand on his bare back, her voice clouded with sleep.

"Mmmh, I'm sleeping…" Haley rolled her eyes at him even though his eyes were still closed.

He was such a grouch in the early morning hours. Actually, when she thought about it, he was a grouch no matter what time it was in the am. Especially when he was already running low on sleep, but she couldn't blame him though. Her body was aching for a full night sleep. Hell, she was aching for more than 2 hours of consecutive sleep, but she very well knew that that wasn't going to happen for a while still, as she heard the volume of Lydia's cries drastically increase.

Haley stroked her hand softly over his broad back before she nudged his shoulder lightly. "Nathan, you know she won't go back to sleep." She tried whispering him out of his halfway sleep induced state. "She wants her daddy." She added and increased the pressure of her hand on his back.

She felt him start to stir a little and slowly, but surly, his eyes opened tiredly.

"What kind of dirty tricks are you playing at now, Haley James?" His deep, scratchy voice vibrated through her skin and made her body shiver involuntarily. Even in his current, half comatose state, he managed to evoke her body to respond to him.

She couldn't hide the smile when she met his gorgeous, blue eyes smiling tiredly back at her.

"I'm not playing at anything. I know our daughter, and I can tell that this is one of her '_I want my daddy_' cries." She said as sweetly as she could while her fingers danced lightly over his skin. "Besides, it's technically your turn so…" She chuckled softly as Nathan groaned and lifted his head off of the pillow.

"But I'll tell you what. Why don't you go in and get her, and I'll go downstairs and get the bottle ready, and I'll meet you back here!?" She quickly added before he could say anything, as she raised her head and placed a small kiss on his lips.

Nathan smiled softly at her. "Hales, you don't have to do that. Just go back to sleep, we'll manage." He brushed his knuckles over her cheek.

She never ceased to amaze him. Even though she was just as tired and exhausted as he was, if not even more, she was still offering to get up with him now at this ungodly hour, simply because she was Haley. His chest warmed by her constant kindness.

"No, it's okay, Nathan. I'm awake anyway, and I don't mind." She smiled gently and threw the covers away from her body before she rolled out of bed.

Nathan watched her with a tired smile as she walked out of the room.

His girl really is one of a kind.

No, strike that. There's two of a kind, he thought when he heard another sobbing cry cut through the silence, as he discarded the covers and quickly got out of bed.

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"Hey, angel." Nathan said as he walked into the nursery and towards the crib.

He leaned down and picked up her tiny, shaking body, and immediately cradled her into his chest. "Sshh, it's okay. Daddy's here now." He soothed and rubbed his hand up and down her small back as he swayed his body from side to side.

He quickly checked her diaper and decided he could wait to change her till after she'd gotten her bottle.

He kept walking in small circles in the nursery to calm her down a little, with his cheek resting at the top of her head.

"You know what time it is, princess? Are you sure you want to be awake right now? Cause everyone else is sleeping, your Aunt Quinn, Uncle Clay and your brother. I'm pretty sure they're all dead to the world right now, as you should be too." Nathan spoke and closed his eyes as he heard her sobs starting subside.

"Even mommy wishes she could sleep now, but she's downstairs to get you your milk." He paused and smiled as he felt her tiny hand try to grab his chin. He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles softly.

"You know, you've got to stop torturing your mom like this. She's far too kind to say no, but I have a feeling you already know that." He chuckled softly and kissed the top of her head when he heard her gurgle in response. "I know, your mom is very special, so we have to take good care of her. And that means less waking up at 5, okay munchkin?" He added and started to walk towards the doorway.

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Haley applied a few drops of milk on her wrist to check the temperature. She nodded to herself and licked it off when she felt it was perfect, and headed straight for the stairs.

When she approached their bedroom she halted in the doorway as she heard Nathan's low, mumbling voice. Her heart fluttered when she caught the sight of him on top of the bed. He was halfway laying against the headboard, with Lydia cuddled up on his chest. His large hand was covering her tiny back, and it seemed like they were in a deep conversation, as his soothing voice got an occasional respond from Lydia as she gurgled happily back to her father.

There really was no better sight than seeing Nathan and Lydia cuddled up like this. She could see how much Lydia adored her father. How happy and content she always was whenever she was close to him. It warmed her heart to no end.

She was the spitting image of Nathan with her dark hair and her beautiful eyes that held a hint of his clear, blue color. And every time she smiled, she saw that same, familiar curve of her lips that was dangerously close to mimic Nathan's smirk which had her weak in the knees every single time. And she knew for a fact that her smile already had her father go completely weak and surrender himself to her. It was adorable how much of a daddy's girl she was, Nathan simply didn't stand a chance.

A content smile grazed her face as she walked slowly towards them.

"Hey you." Suddenly, the thought of being up at 5 am wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Nathan turned his head by the sound of her voice and smiled softly at her. "We were waiting for you." He spoke low as Haley climbed into the bed and scooted herself closer to them. "You see, we've gotten to an agreement while you were downstairs." He added and smiled proudly as he patted Lydia's back.

"Oh, really? And what might that be?" Haley asked amused as she watched Nathan turn Lydia around in his arms so she was facing her.

"Well, Lydia agreed to start sleeping through the night from now on, or at least give the 5 am awakenings a rest. Didn't you? Yes, you did." He cooed at her and tickled her belly.

"Did she now?" Haley chuckled softly at the two of them, as Lydia grinned and flailed her arms around.

She leaned in and placed a wet kiss at Lydia's chubby cheek. "Wouldn't that be something, huh sweetie?"

"Ma!" Lydia exclaimed and threw her hands out in Haley's face who were still hovering above her.

Haley cringed her nose and chuckled. "You hungry, huh baby?" Lydia started to fuzz immediately as she pulled back a little and held out the bottle of milk. "Do you want daddy to give you this?"

Nathan took the bottle and directed it towards her mouth. When she latched on, she calmed down and started to suck with a content sigh. "We've got this, don't we Lyd." He said as he watched her feverishly suck like there was no tomorrow.

Haley watched with awe at the two of them for a moment, before she leaned down and placed her head on Nathan's shoulder. Her eyes fluttered shut as she felt Nathan's lips touch her forehead as he placed his free arm around her, pulling her even closer to his body.

"You're amazing, you know that?" He whispered into her skin. The vibration of his voice sending shivers down her neck.

She snuggled her face into the side of his neck and breathed him in. "You're pretty amazing yourself, you know. I probably would have fallen apart a long time ago if you hadn't been here with me. You're what makes all of this so much easier, cause I know that we'll always have you to take care of us." She whispered and tilted her head back to look at him.

"There's no where else I'd rather be." He looked intently at her and felt Lydia starting to get heavier in his arms as her sounds were slowly evening out.

"I think she's about to fall asleep." He whispered and turned his gaze to the perfect creation in his arms.

Haley followed his gaze and smiled as Nathan carefully removed the bottle from her mouth. She felt her heart swell in her chest as she looked at her baby girl cradled so peacefully in her husbands arms. She felt a single tear roll down her cheek but quickly wiped it away. Clearly her hormones were still making her an emotional basket case, but she knew that these tears were tears of utter and complete happiness - well that, and the fact that she was beyond exhaustion didn't really help the matter.

"I'm gonna go change her before I put her down." Nathan said as he started to untangle himself from Haley to get out of bed.

Haley placed her hand on his chest and halted him for a second so that she could give Lydia another kiss.

"Sweet dreams, my angel. Mommy loves you so much." She whispered sweetly into her cheek before she pulled away to let them go.

"You go back to sleep, baby. I'll be right back." Nathan smiled and placed a kiss at her forehead before he got out of the bed.

She slumped back down into the mattress and watched his retreating form. She couldn't help but think how incredibly sexy her man was as he carried their half sleeping daughter back into her room. She let her gaze move from the back of his head, which was slightly hunched down as he spoke soothing words to Lydia. His well defined, broad back, his boxer clad perfect ass and his muscular, sexy legs.

He was all man, but she knew that behind that exterior, rock hard body of his, there was a heart so soft and so caring, which was divided into three equally, large pieces. One piece for each of them. And she knew that those pieces would only continue to grow for every single day, because there was nothing more in this world that meant more to him than his family - just like there was nothing in this entire world that meant more to her than her two guys and her little girl.

She sighed happily to herself as Nathan disappeared and closed her eyes, snuggling her head further into the pillow. She smiled and felt her eyes getting heavy as she listened to Nathan's soft voice through the baby monitor.

It didn't take long before Nathan returned to bed, and Haley had already fallen into a light slumber. She felt him take a hold around her stomach and pull her back into his chest.

"She's out cold." He said and snuggled into her.

Haley placed her hand on top of his and locked their fingers. "Mmm that's good." She murmured as she let the warmth of Nathan's body seep into her own.

Nathan knew that Haley was close to falling asleep and didn't want to keep her up longer than necessary, as he knew how badly she needed her sleep. He kissed the back of her head and squeezed her body closer. "Go to sleep baby, I've got her when she wakes up again." He whispered softly into her hair.

"Thank you, Nathan. I love you." She squeezed his hand lightly, right before she let herself succumb to sleep in the arms the most loving and caring husband and father there ever was.

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**AN**; So, a little N/H/L bonding, since the show really did an excellent job depriving us in that department. I know it's not very long, but I hope it was okay. And yes, Jenna, this was of course for you :)

Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the love you give me! It definitely helps the inspiration going!  
However, don't get used to these frequent updates though. Just saying ;)  
Oh, and NGU will be next.


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